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"We've mostly been doing different gigs here and there in this city, occasionally get the odd venue with a ridiculous amount of people considering how small we are." Rory hummed as he thought, reciting one of their songs. "And as for the type of music, we're categorized ourselves as pop rock, but we can do more pop or more rock depending on the album or song."
"I don't think I've listened to much, or anything, in that genre." Aika mused, her tapping picking up the same beat as his humming after listening for just a few moments. "Now might be good a time as any though, what with all my newfound free time. What's your band's name?"
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"7th Set," he said, then resumed his humming, he took notice of her tapping and did a small experiment. He switched the song to something with an erratic beat, seeing if she'd pick up on the odd pattern. It was one of their more recent songs, and Rory had actually been a major contributor to the music—probably why the beat was so weird.
She tilted her head, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "7th Set. Interesting." It took a few more moments for her to pick up this beat, but soon she was tapping along with him humming. It was part nervous tick, part fiddling, depending on the situation. Her father had drilled it into her head that fidgeting was a sign of boredom, so she'd switched to the rhythmical tapping, which could be passed off as getting into the groove of a new piece.
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"You're good at that," Rory commented with a hint of admiration. It took him quite a bit of practice to get the hang of new and different beats, especially ones like that. He then lifted his shoulders and burrowed into his fur-lined coat, smiling to himself at the feeling.
Aika turned towards him, tilting her head. "Good at what?" It took her a moment to realize what he was referring to, and a light blush painted her cheeks, at the habit being noticed. "Oh. Thank you?"
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"You into music?" he guessed, continuing. "You strike me as the sort of person to appreciate music more so than most people." His smile remained as he sunk further into his coat, a soft sigh escaping his lips. Oh, how he loved his beloved coat. It was like a portable piece of heaven, ready to swallow him whole in fuzziness.
"I am, yes." She nodded, the smile coming back as she continued tapping. "I was born and raised in a household always full of music. I can't really imagine not liking music when it's the first sound you have any recollection of hearing."
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He hummed and nodded. "I can relate to that. It's probably why I got into singing so quickly. My parents would constantly have music blaring inside the house. My dad's mom liked to sing as well—she's actually the one who gave me lessons whenever she came over to visit."
"What are voice lessons like?" She asked curiously, finally showing something beyond standing like a statue as she leaned against the railing slightly. The urge to take off the blindfold, to put a face to a voice, was back again, and the hand that wasn't tapping moved to fiddle with the buttons of her blazer.
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He snorted. "Degrading and filled with slipper throwing, but effective. My grandmother knocked my pride down to a safe level, so I wasn't trying to prance around while bragging about my superior vocal skills. Some other lessons were tossed in as well so that I didn't waste her visits." He loved his grandmother dearly, but her teaching methods were just a tad violent. Worked though, as he spoke Korean like a native and, in her words, had a voice like an angel. So he couldn't brag, but she could?
"Minus the slipper throwing, mostly because Madame Barre always wore heels, they sound incredibly similar to my violin and piano lessons." She mused, huffing a soft, if slightly wry, laugh. "Although now I definitely want to hear you sing." The dinging of the elevator signaled they had reached the ground floor.
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Rory made sure that there was no one coming onto the elevator, which there was none, then tapped Aika on the shoulder to let her know that it was safe to go. "Yet another thing we have in common, though I'm not going to start busting out singing in the middle of the cafeteria."
"How disappointing." Aika said, this time definitely meaning to joke as she stepped out of the elevator. She wobbled just slightly, once again thrown off balance by the lack of sight, and paused, leaning against her cane to gather herself.
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Rory was patient with her, holding open the doors so they didn't close in on her until she stepped out. He soon followed after her. "I mean, I could just have you listen to a few of my unreleased solo songs, but that's the extent of what I'm comfortable with." He was both partially joking and partially serious. He much rathered having his voice blend with the other guys' than be on his own—which is why most of his solos remained unreleased.
"You don't have to, you know." Aika said, moving to the wall to stay out of the way as she waited for Rory to start walking. "While I would love to listen to you sing, I would much rather not make you uncomfortable." She reached up with her free hand, brushing her hair back from her face more out of habit than necessity.
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Rory shrugged, his usual small smile playing on his lips. "Nah, you're good. Having you listen to prerecorded stuff is better than putting on a one-man-show in a hospital cafeteria." He started heading towards the cafeteria, mulling over what was the best thing to get Jordan.
"You have to admit, it would be quite the show." Aika said, catching up to his side once more, this time a bit easier now that she'd gotten better at telling his mass from that of an IV drip. It hit her, that the entire conversation meant he wouldn't seem to mind running into her again, something that was fairly new to her.
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He laughed, glancing over at her. "Yeah, I guess it would. But Kasper is more of the showman, sadly. If he were here, he'd offer to put on the show with a little more eagerness than I'd like. He'd probably try to drag me into it as well—make it a duet."
"I'm sure that would be quite the scene to witness." She huffed a laugh, entirely unaware that she had misjudged the distance between them just a bit, leaving her maybe just a bit too close to him, though not enough to be awkward. "What are your bandmates like?"
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"Loud, obnoxious, arrogant, clumsy, and flirty," he said automatically with a firm nod, laughing slightly afterward. "Jordan's the loud one, Kasper's the obnoxious one, Harvey's the arrogant one, Tobias is the clumsy one, and Rowan's the flirt."
"They sound…interesting, for sure." She said, her lips pulling up into a more solid, and slightly amused, smile. "That makes you the smart one then, right? The one with the common sense?"
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Rory laughed again. "Interesting doesn't even begin to cover it." He glanced down at her and caught her smile, which made him smile even more. He just smiled when others smiled. "I wouldn't exactly call myself the smart one, but I'm basically the one who tries to keep them under control."
"You seem plenty smart to me." Aika said, her face turning up towards his as her smile stayed in place. "At the very least, when it comes to music." And he really did. She had met plenty of smart people at school, but Rory seemed just a bit above them. That might have been the music lover in her talking, though.
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He tilted his head, which resembled a confused puppy more than anything. "Oh? How so?" They'd only just met, and he couldn't think of anything he's said that would resemble smart, even with anything related to music. He was curious to hear how she had come to that conclusion.
"A quiet smart. I've known plenty of people, smart, not smart. And fake smart. I'm not entirely sure how to explain it, but you just seem like a smart person." The word vibe might have worked well, and explained everything more, but she wasn't really the type to say the word itself, or place much stock in it, despite it fitting well.
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"Huh. Never really thought about it like that. I guess I'll just have to take your word for it until I do something that makes me feel smart. I will be the first to admit that I have surprised myself with my stupidity, however, so the bar is low." He laughed softly, recalling the numerous incidents where his entire band was looking at him like he was a dumbass.
"People either think they're smarter than they actually are, or dumber. I would be willing to place a bet on you falling into the latter category. You might surprise yourself." She shook her head, a soft laugh escaping her.
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((I would fall into the same category as Rory. I also just got over my coughing fit after inhaling pretzel dust))
"I just might, but I can't guarantee it's the sort of surprise you're hoping for." He shook his head with another soft laugh, burrowing into his coat once more. His hair fell into his eyes and he grumbled as he raked his fingers through it to get it put back into place. "I really need to go get this cut…" he muttered.
((That doesn't surprise me at all. I just am stupid, 300%))
"I hope you're talking about your hair, or that sentence is potentially worrisome." She commented, the corner of her mouth turning up into a half smile. "Too long looks-wise, or too long in-the-way?"
